The effects of guanine and cytosine variation on dinucleotide frequency and amino acid composition in the human genome

Summary One hundred twelve human DNA sequences were analyzed with respect to dinucleotide frequency and amino acid composition. The variation in guanine and cytosine (G+C) content revealed: (1) at 2–3 and 3-1 doublet positions CG discrimination is attenuated at high G+C, but TA disfavor is enhanced, and (2) several amino acids are subject to G+C change. These findings have been reported in part for collections of sequences from various species. The present study confirms that in a single organism-the human-the G+C effects do exist. Aspects of the argument that connects G+C with protein thermal stability are also discussed.     

生物多样性与稳定性机制研究进展

随着全球生物多样性的迅速丧失,生物多样性与生态系统稳定性的关系已成为人类面临的重要科学问题。许多研究表明生物多样性与稳定性存在正相互关系,但其内在机制尚不能被很好地理解并且存在争议。对生物多样性与稳定性的研究历史做简短的回顾,然后根据时间稳定性的计算方法将时间稳定性分为平均值、方差之和以及协方差之和3个统计组成部分,在此基础上对现在常见的生物多样性-稳定性机制进行分类和详细介绍。并对现在生物多样性和稳定研究的争论进行总结。建议未来生物多样性稳定性关系的研究应该建立更加综合的理论,增加实验时间,应用整合分析(meta-analysis)对已发表实验结果进行综合分析,此外,应多关注非生物量/多度的属性,控制物种属性而不是仅仅控制物种的数量。     

重组人粒细胞集落刺激因子的N端氨基定点PEG化修饰

尽管重组粒细胞集落刺激因子(rhG-CSF)具有重大的治疗价值,然而在实际应用却受到体内半衰期过短因而需要频繁重复注射的限制．为了解决这一问题,我们利用两种不同分子量（5 kD和 20 kD）的单甲氧基聚乙二醇丙醛（mPEG-PAL）对rhG-CSF的N端氨基进行了定点PEG化修饰．通过正交实验的统计学方法得到了最适修饰条件．研究发现,PEG化后的rhG-CSF具有了更高的体外稳定性,其体内活性也得到了很大提高,体内作用时间得到很大延长．因此,对于rhG-CSF的N端氨基定点PEG化修饰,可以显著提高rhG-CSF的临床应用价值．     

应用意愿价值评估法评价河流生态恢复的时间稳定性——以上海城市内河为例

意愿价值评估法 (CVM)的评估结果是否具有时间稳定性是其可靠性检验中的重要问题,决定其能否应用于我国的生态系统服务价值评估.本文以上海城市内河生态恢复为评估对象,设计相隔1个月和2年的3次意愿价值评估方案,分别对3次调查的426、498和200份问卷进行了对比分析.结果表明： 3次支付意愿均值分别为14.2、14.1和18.0元,中位数分别为5、5和10元.进一步对支付意愿分布和主要统计值、影响因素、模型时间变量的显著性分析结果表明,相隔1个月的CVM 结果具有时间上的稳定性,而相隔2年的CVM 结果表现出一定差异.     

Global stability of an SIR epidemic model with time delays

An SIR disease transmission model is formulated under the assumption that the force of infection at the present time depends on the number of infectives at the past. It is shown that a disease free equilibrium point is globally stable if no endemic equilibrium point exists. Further the endemic point (if it exists) is globally stable with respect to the whole state space except the neighborhood of the disease free state.Research partly supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, Japan, Grant 05640256     

Age and Sex Structured Model for Assessing the Demographic Impact of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS

Age and sex structured HIV/AIDS model with explicit incubation period is proposed as a system of delay differential equations. The model consists of two age groups that are children (0–14 years) and adults (15–49 years). Thus, the model considers both mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) and heterosexual transmission of HIV in a community. MTCT can occur prenatally, at labour and delivery or postnatally through breastfeeding. In the model, we consider the children age group as a one-sex formulation and divide the adult age group into a two-sex structure consisting of females and males. The important mathematical features of the model are analysed. The disease-free and endemic equilibria are found and their stabilities investigated. We use the Lyapunov functional approach to show the local stability of the endemic equilibrium. Qualitative analysis of the model including positivity and boundedness of solutions, and persistence are also presented. The basic reproductive number (ℛ₀) for the model shows that the adult population is responsible for the spread HIV/AIDS epidemic, thus up-to-date developed HIV/AIDS models to assess intervention strategies have focused much on heterosexual transmission by the adult population and the children population has received little attention. We numerically analyse the HIV/AIDS model to assess the community benefits of using antiretroviral drugs in reducing MTCT and the effects of breastfeeding in settings with high HIV/AIDS prevalence ratio using demographic and epidemiological parameters for Zimbabwe.     

A broad range of Fab stabilities within a host of therapeutic IgGs

Although the functional properties of IgGs are well known, little has been published concerning the stability of whole IgG molecules. Stability is, however, a requirement for the development of antibodies for therapeutic or diagnostic applications. The hypervariable antigen-binding region (Fv) is responsible for stability variations between IgGs of identical subclass. To determine the range of stabilities that may be expected for human(ized) antibodies, differential scanning calorimetry was performed on 17 human(ized) antibodies from various in-house programs. The antigen-binding fragments (Fabs) of these antibodies exhibited thermal unfolding transitions with midpoints (T(M)s) varying from 57 to 82 degrees C. Antibodies with very low Fab stabilities were found to aggregate and express poorly. Fab instability was often associated with high levels of uncommonly observed amino acids or CDR loop lengths particularly within the variable heavy chain domain. Overall, the study provides a thermostability range for IgGs and suggests possible stability guidelines for developing antibody diagnostics or therapeutics.     

含par位点的重组质粒Psjm3的构建及其稳定性研究

利用自然质粒pSC101par位点的分离稳定性功能,构建了含par位点的质粒pSJM4和pSJM3,通过在同样宿主E.coli HB101中的稳定性比较研究表明,不含par位点的重组质粒pSJ3很不稳定,E.coli G3(pSJ3)在培养到第10代时已开始出现pSJ3的丢失,到培养至50代时则已全部丢失;而含par位点的重组质粒pSJM3则表现得十分稳定,E.coli G3-1(pSJM3)经70代培养,仍无明显的质粒丢失现象,其稳定率保持97%以上。通过对不含par和含par的非重组质粒pUC18和pSJM4的稳定性比较也获得同样的结果。通过对E.coliG3(pSJ3)和E.coli G3-1(pSJM3)的产酶活性比较研究表明,G3-1菌株明显高于G3菌株,说明我们构建的重组质粒pSJM3上的par位点功能不仅没有因外源基因的表达而受影响,而且有利于外源基因的表达。